From intimate songwriting to international stages, Annabel Rose has quietly become one of the defining voices of Ghana’s alternative movement.

As she enters a new chapter with “How do the flowers bloom”,

RADIO meets an artist still choosing curiosity over certainty.

1. Listening to “Imperfect Daughters,” I kept coming back to the tension between parental expectations, childhood dreams and the realities of adulthood. Was that the emotional landscape you were trying to capture, or did the song reveal itself differently while you were writing it?

Anabel Rose:
I wrote Imperfect Daughters almost subconsciously. I had felt an inexplicable weight in my chest in the days leading up to writing the song, and when I heard the guitar loop Insvne Auggie had made for me, everything came tumbling out. It was a deeply cathartic process that made me realize how much anxiety I was carrying about choosing music as my career. The song came from such a personal place, and I think that’s why so many people connected with it.

2. If music had never found you, what kind of life do you think you’d be living?

Anabel Rose:
I’d probably be working in media or communications. During my first year, I was building a digital marketing career alongside music, and I also love video production—coming up with ideas, editing and working on set. I think I would have found a creative path either way.

3. Was there a single moment when you realized music wasn’t just something you loved, but something you wanted to build your life around?

Anabel Rose:
Yes. A mentor once asked me some difficult questions about where I wanted my life to go while I was juggling music and marketing. I had to visualize both futures, and I realized the only one that felt genuinely fulfilling was the path of being an artist.

4. After spending time with the project, I kept returning to the idea of growth—of learning to live with uncertainty instead of trying to conquer it. Was that the feeling you hoped listeners would leave with after hearing How Do the Flowers Bloom?

Anabel Rose:
A hundred percent. We spend so much of our lives asking questions about things we can’t control. Questions are important because they help us grow, but sometimes we let them become burdens. What I wanted to communicate through this project is the balance between asking the hard questions and knowing when to let go.

5. On “Peace of Mind,” you sing, “Uncertainty is a blessing.” That’s such an unexpected line. What does uncertainty mean to you today that it perhaps didn’t a few years ago?

Anabel Rose:
I’ve always spent a lot of time wondering what my future will look like—where I’ll be, who’ll be in my life and how everything will unfold. Writing Peace of Mind helped me realize that uncertainty forces you to make the choices that often lead to your biggest breakthroughs.

6. “Blasé” isn’t a word many listeners encounter every day. Why was that the right title for the song, and how does it deepen the story you’re telling across the EP?

Anabel Rose:
Blasé means to be bored or unimpressed. I used it to celebrate the effortless ways women accomplish incredible things while still being confident in who they are. I don’t always feel that way about myself, but I think I wrote the song as a reminder of the person I’m becoming.

7. “How Do the Flowers Bloom?” feels almost like a question you’re asking yourself rather than the audience. Is it rhetorical, reflective, or something else entirely? And at what point did you know it would become the title of the project?

Anabel Rose:
It’s meant to be a question the listener asks themselves after the final song. It’s deeply reflective because we’re all constantly searching—for guidance, for answers and for who we’re becoming. Sometimes we try to follow someone else’s blueprint, but just like flowers, everyone needs different conditions to grow. I want listeners to ask themselves, “At this point in my life, what do I need to bloom?”

The title actually came at the very end. I always overthink them, but after a conversation with my team, it arrived like a lifeline.

8. When I saw “How I Want It 2” on the track list, I genuinely smiled because the first record felt unfinished in the best possible way. What made now the right time to return to that story?

Anabel Rose:
I originally thought How I Want It would remain a standalone single. Then I ended up connecting with Xenia Manasseh through an Instagram cover I had posted, and everything clicked. I immediately knew her voice belonged on the song. Luckily she agreed, and the rest is history.

9. The collaborations on the project never feel like guest appearances for the sake of it—they feel woven into the emotional fabric of the record. How did those collaborations come together, particularly with Jiire Smith?

Anabel Rose:
Every collaboration has its own story. Every artist on the project is someone I’ve admired for a long time, and I had to put my anxiety aside and simply ask. Jiire’s feature was especially memorable because Happiness Is Free almost didn’t make the project. We were running out of time, but his name came up at exactly the right moment. He wrote and sent his verse within days.

10. You’ve always occupied a space between alternative R&B, Afro soul and other contemporary sounds, yet your music rarely feels confined by genre. How do you continue experimenting within styles many people think have already been fully explored?

Anabel Rose:
I try to approach creating music with childlike wonder. I’m endlessly curious about the genres that have inspired me, and I challenge myself to make something that feels entirely my own through those explorations.

11. “Monsters” immediately stood out because of its guitar textures—they almost reminded me of Black rock traditions. What conversations were happening in the studio while that record was taking shape?

Anabel Rose:
Monsters was one of my favorite sessions. My A&R, Michael, and I were basically living out our childhood dreams. Everything happened so naturally—we kept throwing ideas into the room, and each one led to another. It felt less like recording and more like improvising together.

12. There’s a phrase in the pre-chorus of “Happiness Is Free” that doesn’t immediately sound like English, Twi or Ga. What language—or expression—are you using there, and why was it important to include it?

Anabel Rose:
It’s Kasem, my father’s language from Navrongo in Ghana’s Upper East Region. Lately I’ve been trying to reconnect with both my parents’ cultures. Northern languages have such beautiful musicality, and this felt like my first step towards exploring that more deeply in my music.

13. Flowers don’t force themselves to bloom—they respond to time, care and changing seasons. What does “blooming” mean to you at this stage of your life?

Anabel Rose:
Right now, blooming means understanding the conditions I need to thrive. Being in touch with myself and my needs has become incredibly important. As artists, our personal lives shape our work, and as I grow older, I want to take better care of Anabel.

14. You’re part of a generation reshaping what alternative music from Ghana can sound and look like. Do you feel any responsibility in that, or is it something you try not to think about?

Anabel Rose:
The biggest contribution I can make is staying true to my own vision. I never began this journey trying to reshape alternative music in Ghana. I simply focused on making the music I believed in. If that encourages someone else to pursue their own path, then that’s something I’m incredibly grateful for.

15. Every project leaves behind stories listeners never hear. What’s one moment from making How Do the Flowers Bloom? that perfectly captures the spirit of this era?

Anabel Rose:
Spending three months in a room with some of my favorite producers, instrumentalists and writers, simply making the music we wanted with carefree curiosity—that’s the memory I’ll always hold onto. It was a deeply healing process that helped me reconnect with my creative self.

words by: Emmanuel Aneriba-Iga (Editor-in-chief)

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